Generally, the invention relates to a pad for use with a shop horse in automotive repair shops, paint shops, and other types of repair businesses. More particularly, the invention is a foam pad that rests atop a working portion of a tube that forms a shop horse for preventing damage to parts that are rested upon the shop horse.
A shop horse is portable stand or bench having a horizontal surface, such as tubing, that rests atop a plurality of legs. The horizontal surface serves as an upper working surface upon which parts are rested. The shop horse typically comprises two pieces of u-shaped tubing that are coupled together to form a pair of legs on opposite sides of the pair of upper working surfaces of the shop horse. Each piece of u-shaped tubing includes a vertical leg each leg includes a rubber tip that engages a floor surface. A protective pad or cover is provided on the horizontal portion of the tubing. This horizontal portion of the tubing forms the working portion of the shop horse and the protective pad prevents damage to any articles that are rested on the shop horse. Mechanics, automotive technicians and painters typically use shop horses to rest car parts and the like thereon when performing automotive maintenance and painting services.
Shop horses are purchased from a retailer with a pad or cover already installed on the horizontal working surface. This cover protects the items placed on the stand during repair work so that no damage occurs to the item during the repair. Items that may be rested atop a shop horse range from light weight items, such as tools and small parts, to heavy weight items such as doors, fenders, hoods, and bumpers. The factory pads on the shop horses are typically one-half inch (½′) thick or less and wear out within a few months or weeks, depending upon the level of work performed on the shop horse. These factory installed pads provide minimal protection and quickly disintegrate during ordinary working conditions. The disintegration of these factory installed foam pads produces dust particles which can become impregnated in wet paint and other coatings that are being applied to the item resting atop the shop horse. This type of pad may include an adhesive that is provided between the pad and the working potion of the tubing.
The disintegration of the original factory pads also requires the user to repair or replace the original pad. Previously, the shop horse was simply covered with rags, towels, and bubble wrap, collectively referred to as replacement items. These replacement items were intended to provide protection for the items placed on the shop horse after the pad begins to disintegrate. This is an ineffective repair which causes the constant replacement of these rags, towels and bubble wrap. Moreover, if the replacement items are not properly secured to the working portion of the tubing, they may cause damage to objects on which work is being performed by allowing them to slide or drop from the work horse.